The Real Cousin from Boston
by Shopaholicteen666
Summary: We all know that the Cohen's tried to pass off Ryan as the cousin from Boston. But what happens when the real cousin from Boston come to visit Newport and turns everything upside down.SS,RM please read and review!
1. Chapter One

The Real Cousin from Boston

Author's Note: Okay my parent's made me sit through a "family dinner" and that's when I thought of this idea. Since it lasted practically an hour I was going crazy so if this idea is quite weird you can understand why.

"Thanks" Seth said waving to the taxi driver. He was finally back in California after spending five weeks away. It had been a great few weeks and Seth felt somehow older, somewhat more mature and a little bit more foolish. Because let's face it, it was definitely not one of his smartest moves not contacting his parent's for five weeks. And well that would have been bad enough, if he hadn't contacted his girlfriend almost every day he was on the ocean and arranged for her to come and spend a week in Tahiti with him. He had also made sure that she contacted his parent's every once in a while to make sure that they knew that he was alright. Which was probably the only un-selfish thing he had done the entire time.

Which also accounted for the reason that he was so nervous about-facing his parents. He had every reason to be nervous that his over-protective parents would punish him. Because they weren't about to let this slide. Because except for the time they had tried to send him to a fancy sleep-away camp that all the Newspie's sent their kids for the summer and well that was exactly the problem, he had expected to get away from everyone and instead found himself in a place where he could get teased more often, this was the longest he had ever been at home. And at least while he had been at camp for the whole eight weeks he had written to his parent's practically every day at least once (come on he was only eight), talked to them on the phone once a week and of course they had come and visited three times on the different parent days.

Seth placed one hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door. He was surprised to hear music, more specifically his kind of music, blasting. Something he had never been aloud to do. He was also slightly touched. If of course it meant that the reason this music was playing was because his mom and dad were trying to pretend like he was home. This made Seth feel slightly better, maybe his punishment would be less severe.

"Mom? Dad?" He called in "I'm home" But there was no response. No one running towards him and smothering him with alternate hugs and slaps. For one of the first times in his entire life, Seth Cohen was speechless. He stood there in the hallway for a second looking around at his house. He had forgotten how big it actually was and how much he missed it because that was evident as he looked around. Nothing, not one thing had changed. Which was sort of surprising considering about every two weeks Kirsten would get bored with something, even something small and change it. He would have expected that things had been changed a couple of times while he was gone. But there was nothing new.

Seth put down his bag filled with dirty clothes and walked into the kitchen. He was opening the fridge to get a glass of juice when he heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs. He figured maybe it was his mom or dad and they just hadn't heard him because of the music. He decided that he wasn't going to run to them, that he was just going to wait and sit at the counter and drink his juice like nothing had happened. Which is why he was shocked and practically knocked over his chair in surprise. A young girl about fifteen dressed in pajamas and carrying an empty cereal bowl had walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Seth," she said as if it was perfectly normal to find a girl you had never seen before in your life dressed in pajamas and eating cereal in your house. Also he figured that the source of the music belonged to her.

"Uh" and for the second time in his life Seth was speechless. He honest to god had no idea what to say.

"Do you remember me?" the girl said dumping her bowl in the sink and coming to sit down next to him. Seth shook his head regarding her with a mix of interest and apprehension. "I'm Jessie," Seth stared at her blankly, "Your cousin,"

"Oh," Seth said finally getting who she was. This was the real cousin from Boston. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice way to greet someone you haven't seen in over four years," Jessie said getting up and giving him a hug, which Seth returned cautiously. "Anyways I was in town with my mom, she was on a business trip, and she had to drive up to San Francisco for a couple of days and she suggested that I spend it here. So your parent's were really nice and let me, and I had a good time so I decided that I was going to spend a couple more weeks here"

"Oh," Seth said taking a sip of his juice

"Also I hope you don't mind this but I've been sleeping in your room," Jessie said and Seth spit out the juice all over the kitchen counter. Jessie made a face and threw the paper towels at him. He reluctantly started cleaning. "The reason is it's so much more comfortable then your guest room. Plus your parent's said that you weren't going to be here for most of the summer and that it was cool if I wanted to use it," Seth made a mental note to kill his parents later. That is if they didn't kill him first of course.

"So uh how long are you staying?" Seth asked wondering if she was going to give him back his room. The idea of a girl, that wasn't Summer, sleeping in his room was kind of creeping him out. I mean if his parent's had let Summer come spend the summer in his room then he would have been like all right and left it alone. But some girl that he barely knew except for the fact that she was Nana's favorite son's daughter that was just way to weird for words. Like beyond the Julie cooper and Luke thing weird.

"Do my mom and dad let you blast the music like this?" he suddenly asked and Jessie laughed.

"You're kidding right," she said and Seth laughed too. "I hope you don't mind that I took this music off your I-pod. I don't have one of my own and you've got a lot of good music on yours. So I hooked it up to the speakers and let it blast. As soon as your parent's left for work that is," she said grinning at Seth. Seth raised at eyebrow, this was getting creepier by the minute and he wondered if this was a dream. He reached over and pinched himself, it hurt. There was no way this was a dream.

"Ouch," he mumbled looking at the mark he had made. "Uh I'm going to go put my stuff in my room," he said standing up and then sat back down again. He had no idea what was going on with the room situation.

"Okay," Jessie said "I'll get my stuff out of your room later, right now I'm going to watch TV"

"Cool," Seth said and headed upstairs to drop off his stuff and have a heart to heart with captain oats. Meanwhile back in the family room Jessie was flipping through the TV channels as fast as she could. After all the time she had spend here she was still shocked that they could have so many channels. After all her parent's wouldn't even get her cable TV. The phone rang and she lazily stretched over to get it.

"Hello"

"Hey," Ryan's voice came over the line quiet and un-sure. It wasn't the first time he had called since he had left. But it had been a while, three weeks to be exact. "Who is this?" he finally asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm the cousin from Boston," Jessie said absentmindedly still flipping through the channels. An hour away in a tiny house in Chino Ryan choked on the peanut he was eating. He hung up the phone and coughed until the peanut finally went down his throat. He hadn't even expected this. I mean the fact that they had replaced him with another "cousin" from Boston was pretty harsh. Also his replacement had happened a whole hell of a lot quicker than he would have liked. He wondered if the Cohen's had forgotten about him. He wondered if he would become someone that they thought of less and less until finally he almost disappeared from their thoughts forever. Like Dawn had for him while he had been in Newport. Ryan decided that he had to do something. At least make sure that one of the Cohen's didn't forget him. Seth had been in contact with Ryan a couple of times. And had also told him to call him. Which Ryan really didn't do much of but whatever. He dialed Seth's number and heard it ring twice.

"Hey," Seth's voice said

"Hey man,"

"What's up?"

"Nothing," Ryan said

"Guess what I'm home,"

"Cool,"

"Yeah. But get this there was a girl sleeping in my room!"

"Huh?"

"I know. My cousin has been sleeping in here for a couple of weeks,"

"Oh," Ryan said wondering if maybe Seth was lying to him too. He wasn't quite sure what to believe. "Would it be cool if I came and visited for a little while later?"

"Cool? It would be awesome! Dude you're my brother you're always welcome here at la casa Cohen,"

"Okay,"

"Yeah, then I'll see you later,"

"Great," Ryan said and hung up. He was going to find out who this girl was once and for all. Ryan jumped into the shower his one pleasurable thing about his day. That is if Teresa and her mom actually left him any hot water. There never seemed to be enough of that. Not like at the Cohen's house where they could all shower for two hours and there would still be enough water. He dressed quickly and headed towards into the tiny kitchen of the place he now was calling his house. He never called it his home, because he had once heard someone say home is where the heart is, and his heart was in Newport, so he guessed that was his home and Chino was his house.

"Hey," Teresa said greeting him with a smile as she looked up from where she was reading the paper. It was Saturday, which meant that neither of them had to work, it was their one day of freedom.

"Hey,"

"What do you want to do today?"

"Uh," Ryan asked stalling for time wondering how to tell her that he wanted to spend the day with the Cohen's. Or at least Seth because he figured that Sandy and Kirsten were as usual at work, which is a good thing for him. Because if they say anything more about him coming home and he's actually not sure he could refuse.

"Want to go to a park and just walk around?" Teresa asked getting up and linking her arms through Ryan's. She was trying to make him happy here, but it exhausted her to no end since he didn't try at all. Not at all.

"Uh,"

"Okay, want to just hang out and watch movies, like we use to?"

"No thanks," Ryan said smiling sadly at Teresa. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings he just didn't know how to tell her that he already had plans. "Uh I was going to go to see Seth," Teresa wrinkled her nose in confusion at Ryan.

"I thought he was on his little boat,"

"He just got back, today,"

"Oh,"

"Yeah," Ryan said feeling uncomfortable.

"Okay, so when are you leaving?" Teresa asked finally filling the moment of uncomfortable silence.

"I don't know I was thinking in a couple of hours. Maybe three or four,"

"Okay, that leaves time to at least have breakfast,"

"Uh sure," Ryan said

"Let's go to the diner I work at, they'll give me really cheap food I think,"

"Okay let me get the keys," Ryan said rushing back into the tiny room that had once belonged to Teresa's brother. He picked up the keys to Teresa's old car, the one he had been driving mostly. Then Ryan followed Teresa outside and into the car. The drive to the diner was short and quiet. As they ordered they didn't talk and as they ate they didn't talk. Ryan wondered if this was the way his life was going to be from now on. That he would have to spend the rest of his life with someone that he had nothing to say too. He had once had so much to say too, Teresa had been the one person that he could say anything to. But lately there was just nothing to say.

Three and a half hours later Ryan was sitting in Teresa's car driving down the highway on his way to enter the world he had once belonged too. He was just passing exit 17, for riverside. He knew that was where Julie Cooper had grown up, and he wondered how she had gotten so use to Newport life. I mean seventeen years is a lot longer then one, especially if there was no time to go back and no one from your past to come back and haunt you. Especially since she was already pregnant so that no old boyfriend could come back and get her pregnant or whatever and then she would have to leave. In one way Ryan envied Julie Cooper, I mean she got to keep the perfect lifestyle, Ryan wasn't sure he would ever get it back. On what salary he and Teresa made he would be lucky if he could afford one of the bricks they used to make the Cohen home. And if he was really, really lucky maybe they could afford a house half as big as his pool house. Ryan mentally smacked himself he had let the word his slip again. Because apparently the pool house was going to be given to another pretend cousin. He wondered why the Cohen's didn't just tell the truth, after all everyone had found out that he wasn't a cousin eventually.

Meanwhile back at casa Cohen Seth had lowered the music in case his parent's came home, unpacked which basically meant him throwing all his clothes in the hamper and all the non-clothes on the floor. Then he had headed downstairs to have some marathon action with his old friend, the play station. Jessie had gone, a hand written half scribbled note lay on the counter said GONE TO THE BEACH-J. So Seth had the house to himself again. It was also just him and the play station. It reminded him of how his life had been before Ryan had come. He was in the middle of switching games when the doorbell rang. Assuming it was finally Ryan, he jumped up and opened the door. He was shocked to see Marissa, without Summer.

"Hi," He said in confusion

"Hey," Marissa said and started to say something but just then Jessie walked in the front door after her. "Who's this?"

"I'm Jessie," she introduced herself "the cousin from Boston," Marissa looked over at Seth and raised an eyebrow.

"Well you might want to stay away from the fashion show after party. People there don't really like Cohen cousin's, especially not the ones from Boston. But I tend to like them, my name's Marissa,"

"Hi," Jessie said nodding and giving Seth a puzzled look" I'm going to get my stuff," She said and ran up the stairs.

"Is that actually a real cousin?"

"Mmmhhm,"

"Well like I said you might want to keep her away from the fashion show party tonight,"

"Oh that's tonight," Seth said not really caring

"Yeah and I'm stuck charring it, and we really need models. Like seriously have had three people cancel. Summer told me you were back and I was wondering if maybe you would come and help us out?"

"Uh-No!" Seth said

"Please, I'll be your best friend," Marissa pleaded. Seth just stared at her but felt himself giving in after all Marissa was his friend-sort of, and besides she was Summer's best friend. He just nodded then suddenly a thought popped into his head.

"How many have you replaced?"

"Two now. The girl was easy, but the boys are hard. Thank god I'll at least have one replacement,"

"I may have one," Seth said casually trying not to get Marissa too excited. After all Ryan was only coming to spend some time, maybe if they were lucky he would spend the night.

"Really," Marissa squealed, "who?"

"I-I-I have to talk to them first," Seth said lamely. "I'll call you later. But I'll definitely come,"

"Great. Thanks Cohen," she said giving him a hug and then with a wave she left. Seth wondered what he had gotten himself into. He couldn't believe that the kid that no one would talk to was the one Marissa Cooper had come to first about being in her fashion show. He was actually kind of excited; he loved being the center of attention. But then again you probably knew that. The next thing he had to do was convince Ryan that he should spend the night and do the fashion show. He figured that they would both be equally as hard.

The doorbell rang about an hour later and even before Seth could get up to answer it Jessie was running down the stairs shouting that she had it. He could hear Ryan's voice and he jumped up. He was excited to see his best friend after five weeks.

"Hey, Ryan!" he cried bounding into the hallway where Ryan and Jessie were talking.

"Seth," Ryan said in greeting and Seth pulled him into a manly hug.

"You met Jessie?" Seth asked and Ryan nodded at him raising an eyebrow.

"Yep,"

"Ok, she's the real cousin from Boston," Seth said making sure Ryan understood. Ryan nodded and gave Jessie a half smile. She smiled back and headed back towards the stairs. "Where are you going" Seth called after her

"Nowhere," She called back in typical teenage girl fashion.

"Dude," Seth said rolling his eyes at Ryan. The two of them headed towards the family room a silent decision that they would spend their time like they use too. Playing video games of course. They're settled in the normal way, Seth sprawled out on the couch and Ryan his back leaning on the couch his legs spread out in front of him. When Seth casually brings up tonight's fashion show.

"So," Seth said casually as he paused the game and turned to look at Ryan.

"So," Ryan said

"Anyway I ran into Marissa today,"

"Oh," Ryan said look taken aback

"Right and tonight's the charity fashion show. Remember that from last year?" Seth asked and Ryan nodded. "Anyways as per usual Marissa's running it and a couple of people canceled on her so she roped me into doing it,"

"Dude that sucks,"

" I know. I was wondering if you wanted to come and watch me make a fool of myself tonight,"

"You're actually going to do it?"

"Uh-Huh, why?"

"Dude I can't believe it, Newport's biggest loser is going to be in the Newport fashion show,"

"Hey!" Seth cried with pretend dismay

"Jessie!" suddenly Sandy's voice called and Seth jumped up guiltily quickly turning off the play station afraid of what his dad would say if he saw him playing. He and Ryan started at each other for one second before they finally headed out to go talk to Sandy. They weren't really sure what his reaction would be when he saw them. Jessie had reached Sandy first and was animatedly talking to him. Seth put a finger to his lip and snuck up behind Sandy. He mentally counted to three and then in a low voice in his dad's ear and putting his hands on his father's shoulders he said boo! Sandy jumped about three feet in the air in complete and utter shock. He spun around so fast that you could feel the breeze and started at Seth and Ryan.

"Hey Dad,"

"Seth!" Sandy cried wrapping his son in a hug. Then as an after thought before pulling away he slapped him upside the head. Jessie cracked up as Seth rubbed his head. Ryan could barley hide the smile that was creeping up on his face. Those was until Sandy turned towards him, and well let's just say that there was no smile to hide anymore. Sandy leaned over and wrapped Ryan in a hug and pulled the same act that he had just done with Seth. Although it didn't hurt as much as he had thought from watching Seth, it barley hurt at all in fact. Ryan made a small face at Sandy and raised and eyebrow.

"Dad, let go of Ryan,"

"Oh right sorry," Sandy said releasing him. He started at the two of them and then sighed loudly. "I'm going to go call your mom," he said finally and walked into the kitchen. Seth and Ryan exchanged a look, wondering why that had been so easy. Why it hadn't been a long lecture, why he hadn't even asked if Ryan was here to stay.

"Man that was too easy," Ryan said and Seth nodded staring suspiciously in the direction of where his dad had headed. Jessie was still laughing as she followed Sandy into the kitchen. Not missing an opportunity to smack Seth exactly where his dad had moment's ago. Seth glared at her and then he and Ryan headed back into the family room to finish that game they had been playing.

Fifteen minutes later the door of the house slammed shut and they could hear Kirsten's heals clicking across the floor. They stopped in the kitchen and they could hear the quiet murmur of both Sandy and Kirsten's voices. Then she stomped in and stood at the doorway of the family room. She looked her two boys, game controllers in their hands, staring earnestly at her. She wondered how they could look so young and have gone through so much. She wondered if things in her family were ever going to okay.

"Seth! Ryan!" she cried running over and giving them both huge hugs. "Ryan, is everything alright with Teresa?" she asked suddenly holding his out at arms length. He nodded slightly before answering.

"She's fine, I just came to visit after I heard that Seth was home,"

"Right, how did you hear that?" Kirsten asked suspiciously.

"Seth told me," Ryan said simply wondering what the big deal was. But he could tell something was up by the way that Seth was looking uneasy and Kirsten was exchanging a look with Sandy who was standing in the doorway. "Uh is something wrong?"

"Ryan be honest with me," Kirsten said turning a steely gaze on him, " How many times in the last few weeks did you talk to Seth?"

"I don't know five, six maybe more," Ryan said with a shrug and Seth wrinkled his nose and shot Ryan a death look.

"Seth!" Kirsten cried turning towards her son her hands clenched in fists. Seth shrank back curling into a ball. Ryan's face paled wondering what he had done to make Kirsten and Sandy so upset.

"Uh!" Ryan cried causing Kirsten to stop and look at Ryan.

"What?" she asked in a calmer tone

"Will you at least tell me what's wrong?"

"Didn't Seth tell you?" Sandy asked walking into the room "Seth hasn't contacted us in five whole weeks,"

"What were you thinking man?" Ryan asked in amazement. He couldn't understand Seth. Even though he to had left the Cohen's it wasn't because he had wanted to but more of the fact that he had had to.

"I don't know?" Seth said with a shrug. It was true it had seemed like a logical thing to do at the time. But now he wasn't so sure. He wondered how his leaving a place he had wanted to get out of for his whole life had such an impact on his life.

"Seth," Sandy cried slapping him upside the head for the second time.

"Why is everyone hitting me there?" Seth asked in frustration rubbing his head in pain.

"It's the easiest part to hit," Sandy said with a shrug.

"I think we need to have a family meeting," Kirsten said looking at Sandy who nodded. Just as they were heading into the kitchen to talk Jessie walked in.

"Hey Uncle Sandy, Aunt Kirsten, Seth, Ryan," she said nonchalantly pulling up a chair and sitting down with them. Sandy and Kirsten exchanged a look.

"Jess," Kirsten finally said putting her hands on the younger girls. "We need to have a family meeting, just the four of us. You think that you can hang out upstairs for a little while?" Jessie's face falls then perks up, she's a Cohen after all she knows how to eavesdrop.

"And no eavesdropping," Sandy says knowing his niece all too well. After all he and his brother's had practically invented methods for eavesdropping. Jessie shot him a look and started to get up but stopped and sat back down. "Jessie?"

"I wanna stay," she whined stretching back and grabbing the can of coke that sat in front of Sandy and taking a big sip. Everyone started at her and then burst out laughing. Ryan thought it was funny how much this girl, not only in looks, but in personality too how much she was like Seth. Seth had called Anna the female version of himself, Ryan figured that if anyone was the female version of himself it was Jessie. Ryan hated to think of what happened when all the Cohen cousin's got together. He figured it would be a weird experience.

"Jess," Sandy said in a warning tone and giving him a look she got up from the table. When Sandy and Kirsten had turned around she shot them the finger, but she did it at the perfect time so that while the adults missed it, Ryan and Seth didn't. They exchanged a look but not wanting to get her in trouble they bit their lips to keep from laughing. They heard her stomping up the steps before they started the conversation.

"First off, Seth, you're grounded," Kirsten said simply turning towards him

"Awww! Mom! How long?" he whined just like Jessie had a minute ago.

"Until you go to college if you're not quiet," Sandy said with a wry grin. Seth shut up and made the zipping motion with his fingers across his lips.

"Okay, now Ryan, how long are you staying here? For good?" Kirsten asked with a bit of hope in her voice. Ryan shook his head not meeting her eyes, he didn't want her to see how unconvinced he was not to stay here. But he knew that Theresa need him, after all he was the only one that could really protect her from Eddie's daily dose of contacting her. "What does that mean?"

"I'm just hear for a short visit," Ryan answered truthfully.

"Okay, would you at least like to come to the fashion show with us tonight and spend the night?" Kirsten asked kindly putting her hand on his.

"Yeah!" Seth cried realizing this was his perfect opportunity, "Marissa needs another male model and you could do it!"

"What?" Sandy and Kirsten both turned to look at him

"Marissa stopped by a little while ago and asked me to be in the fashion show, and I said yes. Maybe Ryan could do it with me?"

"You're in the fashion show?" Sandy asked and he and Kirsten cracked up. The two of them laughed so hard that tears ran down their face. Seth was staring at them like they were crazy.

"What? It's not that funny,"

"Yes it is," Kirsten said "You know when I was your age I did the fashion show too,"

"Yes Mom, we know that you were the princess of Newport society"

"I wasn't!" Kirsten insisted but her argument was weak. How could you not be the princess when your dad was the king? It was like genetics or something, Seth couldn't really blame her. But then again theoretically he should be the next prince, but maybe he was like Prince Harry ignored unless he did something bad. Also Seth didn't really plan on becoming head of the Newport group when his mom died. He figured that if anyone from the Cohen family would it would be Ryan. After all he was at least semi-interested in it.

"Come on stay Ryan!" Seth demanded turning towards his brother. Ryan shrugged

"What about Teresa?" he asked finally

"Invite her to come tonight," Seth said simply

"Okay," Ryan said after a pause, "but I won't do the fashion show!"

"Yep you will," Kirsten said and Seth nodded. "All the boys in this family will,"

"I'm not..." Ryan started to argue, but Sandy shook his head

"It's best not to argue with her," he said getting up and following his wife out the door. Ryan and Seth exchanged a look before Ryan reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone speed dialing Teresa, the second easiest number to reach after the Cohen's that is.

"Hey it's me," he said when she picked up. He looked over at Seth and gave him a look.

"Okay I take a hint,"

"Thanks," he mouthed and then turned back to the phone

"Who's me?" Teresa teased

"Just me," he said teasing back

"Okay me, what's up?"

"I'm going to stay here tonight and do this charity fundraiser thing," Ryan said

"Oh think you can bring home some of the charity?" Teresa joked but Ryan didn't have to say anything. They both knew that they were on the brink of becoming charity cases.

"Funny," Ryan said

"Okay, so you're not coming home,"

"Right, anyways the Cohen's wanted-I wanted" he corrected himself "to know if you wanted to come and spend tonight here too. It will give us some time away from Chino,"

"I don't know let me talk to my mom," Teresa said hesitantly and Ryan could hear their muffled voices. Finally Teresa was back on the phone, "Okay Ryan," she said with a reluctant sigh

"Good," Ryan said and there was a silence the neither one knew how to fill.

"Okay, bye," Teresa said and hung up without waiting for a reply. Ryan headed out the door of the kitchen and into the backyard. He started at the view of the ocean first before he closed the door softly to the pool house. He opened the door to the closet and looked at all the neat suits and tux's that Kirsten had bought him ages ago, all lined up with all his other Newport clothes. The ones he hadn't brought back to Chino with him. He wanted to think that maybe there was so way that he could come back. He grabbed a suit and hung it on the back of the bathroom door, and jumped in the shower for the second time today.

He let the hot water run over him for about twenty minutes before getting out and was about to pull on the suit when he heard a knock on the door. He jumped pulled the towel around his waist and walked out tentatively.

"Hey," Ryan said seeing Seth who was sitting on the bed reading a graphic novel.

"Hey," Seth said looking up and then quickly turning around at the sight of Ryan in nothing but a towel "Oh! Dude," he made a face

"Sorry, I just wanted to see who it was," Ryan headed over to the closet and grabbed a wifebeater and a pair of jeans and when he was sure Seth had his back turned pulled them on.

"Ahh!" Seth said finally turning around "That's the Ryan we know and love,"

"Seth," Ryan said in a warning tone

"What?" Seth asked innocently

"Nothing," Ryan said rolling his eyes. He came over and sat down on the chair across from Seth. "So,"

"So," Seth said

"Tell me about Tahiti," Ryan said finally and Seth launched into a long description of his trip. He had Ryan laughing when Sandy walked in a couple of hours later to tell them they needed ready to go.

"Okay," Seth said jumping up and following his dad out of the pool house. Ryan started around at his pool house and wondered if he would ever live here again. At the moment he was starting to really doubt it. He glanced at the clock which read 5:55. They should be at the place by 6:15. He wondered where Teresa was, but he didn't dwell on it long. He pulled on his suit, expertly tying his tie (tying once a week for a year helped) and then shut the door quietly. It was only as he climbed into Sandy's BMW with Jessie sandwiched between him and Seth that he finally realized that Teresa wasn't there. He pulled out his phone and dialed her listening to it ring once, twice and finally clicking on to voice mail. Ryan shrugged, he wasn't going to let Teresa not showing up ruin his first evening being re-united with his family. Besides he had bigger things to face, like seeing Marissa.

**Author's note**: Okay that was kind of long I think it's just a start and I kind of have an idea where I'm going. But oh well stick with me and wait for the next update! Please review everyone it really makes my day!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Okay so the plot continues. Anyway I realized I didn't put a disclaimer on the first chapter, so I'm adding it now. I don't own anything. Literally, everything I own was bought by my generous parents and their credit card.

They arrived at the place the fashion show was being held about ten minutes after they left the Cohen house. There were still no messages on Ryan's phone from Teresa so he pocketed the phone. He followed Seth into the room for the models while Sandy, Kirsten and Jessie headed towards the seating area. He was wary about doing this model thing, he was even more wary about seeing Marissa. Seth had told him that he had told Marissa he had another guy to do it, but not who it was. It wasn't like he hadn't talked to Marissa.

He had once a week and they had also talked online a bit. But still seeing her would be a whole different thing. Seth held open the door for him and Ryan walked in. In to the world of a million different girls and guys getting dressed, talking and laughing loudly, the sound vibrating around the big room. Marissa bounded over to Seth, Summer was close behind her. She greeted Seth with an easy hug, a friendly one, so Ryan didn't have to be jealous. Over Seth's shoulder's she spotted Ryan. Marissa's face changed slightly a look of shock, then a look of both joy and sadness wrapped up in one. She released Seth and raced over to Ryan giving him a huge hug, Ryan wrapped his arms around her body and hugged her tightly. It was funny he thought, that he could miss Marissa so much in five weeks after only knowing her for a year, but he had known Teresa all his life and hadn't thought of her at all until she had showed up on valentines day.

"Hey Rissa," he whispered in her ear and she grinned at him giving him a small peck on the lips.

"I can't believe you agreed to do this," Marissa said with a laugh.

"He didn't the Kirsten forced him," Seth said with a grin. Ryan reached over and smacked him hard. "What was that for?"

"For telling all my secrets,"

"Chino if that's the extent of your secrets then you have a pretty pitiful life," Summer said grinning

"And you Summer," Ryan said giving her a look "always know how to make me fee; so wonderful,"

"Dude, you were so much better before you learned to be funny." Seth said and Ryan smirked at him.

"Yep, because I'm funnier then you right?"

"No way!" Seth shot back "I'm the funny one."

"Yeah right in what parallel universe are you funny?" Summer asked looking up at Seth

"In every universe I'm funny,"

"No way! Only in the Seth Cohen universe," Marissa says and everyone except for Seth bursts out laughing, Seth puts on his most disgruntled expression but it's no use he can't hide the smile.

"Nice" Seth added "Pick on me after I've only been home for a couple of hours. This feels very two years ago"

"Aww! Is someone feeling left out?" Marissa asked in a sarcastic voice. Seth nodded and gave a sad look before rolling his eyes. Sometimes he couldn't stand Marissa.

"Hey you guys don't fight," Summer said standing between the two of them and rolling her eyes at Ryan. He grinned.

"Uggh! You're right Sum, we should probably start to get ready"

"What time does this thing start?" Ryan asked

"Seven" Marissa answered. Ryan glanced down at his watch flashing six thirty. He pulled out his phone to check messages. There were none, he speed dialed Teresa one last time and was practically sick with relief when someone answered the phone. Sick with relief until he realized that he didn't know the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" he asked in confusion "Teresa?"

"Thank god," the voice said on the other line "do you know the young lady who owns this phone?"

"Uh-huh." Ryan said feeling the panic rise in his chest. Marissa was looking at him questionably but he waved her away. Her face fell and while he waited for the guy to answer he walked away from her and Seth and Summer.

"Sir this young lady lost control of the wheel and..." he broke off

"Is she alright?" Ryan asked in a strangled voice

"Yes, oh god yes." The police officer said happy to give the kid some good news, "but did you know that she was pregnant?"

"yes," Ryan said cautiously

"She..." the man paused uncertain

"Yes?" Ryan pressed on

"Well I'll let her tell you,"

"What? Where is she?"

"She's at the Chino hospital, do you have any idea where that is?"

"Yes," Ryan said in a rushed voice "I'll be there as soon as I can"

"Where are you going?" Seth asked coming up beside Ryan.

"Teresa in the hospital." He choked out hanging up the phone.

"Oh my god," Seth said in a hushed tone.

"I-I-I gotta go," Ryan said

"Yeah, dad can probably give you a lift to go pick up the car from the house,"

"Yeah I guess,"

"Where do you need to go?" Marissa asked coming up next to them

"Teresa's in the hospital,"

"Oh my god what happened?"

"I'm not quite sure, but I gotta go," Ryan said still in shock. Marissa thought for a second then pulled something out of her bag.

"Here are the key's to my new car. It's a BMW convertible license plate KTY654. Take it, Summer can give me a ride home, or I can get a ride with either of my parents."

"Are you sure?" asked Ryan in disbelief

"Yeah, I would come with you but I'm the social chair,"

"The downside of dating the most popular girl in school," Ryan joked and Marissa grinned. The fact that Ryan still thought of the two of them as dating made her feel happier then anything else in the world.

"Okay go!" Marissa said with a nudge. "At least you tried to help out,"

"I'll explain everything to the parents," Seth said with a grin "but call when you get there. Actually call Dad's phone or Mom's because otherwise they'll freak out and be halfway to Chino by time you call,"

"Thanks," Ryan said patting Seth on the back and giving Marissa a quick kiss on the lips and then the forehead before rushing out. He found the car pretty quickly and marveled at how nice he was. He was kind of worried about it getting trashed.

The car ride to Chino was long and nerve racking as Ryan thought of every possible bad situation in the world. He loved Teresa, not like he loved Marissa, but as a friend that he had shared most of his life with. He couldn't imagine anything happening to her. He couldn't imagine life without his first best friend and first girlfriend. He found a parking spot in the back of the lot far away from anyone else's car; he hoped it would give it less of a chance of being trashed. Although judging from what happened to the range rover at the party even though it had been parked a couple of blocks away, he wasn't so sure it had any chance. Ryan stopped the car jumped out, locked it and literally ran into the hospital.

"Hello, can you help me?" he asked the lady at the front desk breathing hard.

"I don't know, but you'll have to calm down first sir,"

"I am calm," Ryan said in a loud voice then realizing how loud that had been he flushed red.

"Okay now sir how can I help you?"

"I need to find someone her name is Teresa,"

"Teresa what?" the woman prompted sweetly

"Uh..." Ryan blanked out

"Okay," the lady said "Well let me help you, how old is she?"

"Seventeen, she was just bought in by the police,"

"Oh okay, I can help you. Are you a relative?"

"Not really," Ryan said hesitating

"Well then I'm not sure if I can let you in,"

"She's carrying my baby," Ryan said desperately even though he had no idea if it was his baby or Eddie's.

"Okay, fine but if anyone finds out it will be my ass, so if anyone asks you're her husband," the woman told a startled Ryan. "Don't look so surprised, now she's in room 206," she added holding in the laugh that threatened to creep up by the look on the boy's face.

"Thanks," Ryan said and took off running. He hated hospitals, they reminded him way to much of his past. The last time two times he had been in a hospital had been bad, the first being when Marissa had swallowed the pills, the second of course when Luke had left. He tried to avoid them as much as possible but every once in a while times like these just popped up and he couldn't avoid them anymore.

Ryan arrived at the door of 206 (thankful that it was on only the second floor as being in elevators made him nervous and took a deep breath before opening the door. Teresa was sleeping and Ryan flinched as he saw the cuts and bruises that were on her face alone. He closed the door behind him as quietly as possible but Teresa woke up anyway. She gave him a week smile as he pulled up a chair beside her bed.

"Hey," Ryan said quietly "Does your mom know you're here?"

"Yeah she went home she'll be back soon,"

"Oh,"

"Yeah, how did you find out I was here?"

"I called your phone to find out where you were at the police told me where you were. Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I went into premature labor, while I was driving and lost control of the car. That's about as much as I remember," Teresa said her face contorted in sadness. Ryan reached over and linked his fingers through hers. The two of them sat in silence for what seemed like forever until Ryan finally got the courage to ask the question.

"How's the baby?" he asked in a hushed voice, as if he was afraid to ask it. Which he was he wasn't sure what he wanted to hear.

"Gone," Teresa said in an even more hushed voice.

"Oh," Ryan said simply leaving it at that. The two of them sat there for a long time thinking of the time when there had been a prospect of being three of them. They didn't talk for three hours, just sat there enjoying each other's company like they use to do before Ryan had moved away. The door of their hospital creaked open tentatively and in walked Sandy and Kirsten. Just like Ryan they were all wearing their fancy clothes but Ryan was surprised to see that Seth wasn't with them

"Hey sweetie," Kirsten said coming over "are we interrupting something?"

"No Mrs. Cohen, we were just sitting" Teresa said politely. She was still in awe of this perfect woman who was so kind.

"Good," Sandy said pulling up a chair and sitting next to Ryan "How are you doing?" he asked directing the question at both the teenagers sitting in front of him. The nurse at the front desk had filled him in on everything so he understood the sad looks on both their faces.

"Fine," Ryan said and Teresa gave a week nod

"Where's your mom sweetie?" Kirsten asked stroking Teresa's hair in a motherly gesture

"She's at home,"

"Does she know?" Kirsten asked tentatively and Teresa nodded. "Want me to call and see if she's coming?"

"Okay," Teresa said "If it's not a problem."

"Not at all," Kirsten said and dialed the number she knew so well from calling Ryan if only to hang up. Teresa noticed this and thought it was amazing how Ryan had found the family that cared about him as much as they did their own flesh and blood. She felt guilty, as she had a million times in the last five weeks, for taking Ryan away. Kirsten walked away and had a hushed conversation then hung up the phone. She turned around and smiled. "She'll be here soon," was all the info she gave.

"Oh," Teresa said and smiled faintly at Kirsten. "Ryan I was thinking, about well," Teresa paused not sure if to go on being that the Cohen's were in the room with them. Sandy took the hint and ushered his wife out of the room claiming that they need coffee.

"What were you thinking?"

"That we've got a bit of money saved up, about 1,000 and we could split it. I think I'll put my money towards going to Atlanta, my mom said she was going to see if my cousin will still let me come,"

"Oh," said Ryan, "what am I going to do?" he asked in confusion staring at Teresa. Teresa couldn't believe he didn't know how much the Cohen's cared about him.

"Go home, Ryan," Teresa said and Ryan nodded. His fingers were still laced in hers and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. "We're both going to be okay," she added and Ryan nodded. He knew he was, the Cohen's would make sure of that, he wasn't worried for himself. He was worried for Teresa who had really been outside of Chino for very long, the short time she was in Newport was probably the extent of that time. He wanted to tell her how hard it had been to fit in, but that there were some really great people in the world. That she would be happy there eventually. Instead he said

"Take all the money, I even have some more saved up that I was saving up, about 800 dollars, take it all. Maybe I can get the Cohen's to give me the loan of the other money..."

"No Ryan," Teresa interrupted "you've done so much for me, besides now I can get a job near home and earn the money,"

"Teresa," Ryan said desperately but Teresa shook her head. She wasn't about to accept anymore charity from the Cohen's. They had already been so nice to her and she had taken away their other son. Actually although Teresa didn't like to think about it but she had actually taken away both their sons as if Ryan hadn't left with her neither would have Seth. It made Teresa feel sick to her stomach that without meaning to she had broken apart this picture perfect family that Ryan had become a part of.

"No Ry, just listen to me,"

"Teresa," Ryan repeated in a warning tone, "at least take the money we already have, the 1,800"

"Okay," Teresa said giving in she didn't want to get in an argument here. Ryan nodded and unlaced his fingers from hers.

"I'm going to go find Sandy and Kirsten," he said and got up from the chair and walked out of the room leaving Teresa all alone again. Until her mom burst through the door.

"Teresa," her mom said shaking her head sadly, Teresa didn't say anything she knew her mom too well. Sometimes it was better to just let her talk it did wonders for her anger. "You have to get out of here,"

"Out of the hospital mama?"

"No! out of Chino! Look what happened to you, how much money do you have saved up?"

"$1,800"

"Oh!" her mom moaned sadly "your cousin needs $3000"

"I know mama, I'll get a job,"

"I know but it will take too long, maybe your brother..."

"No! Don't bring him into this,"

"Okay, but Teresa it worries me having you here still,"

"I know Mama,"

"Um hey Eva," Ryan said as he and the Cohen's walked into the hospital room.

"Ryan," Eva wailed grasping the boy's hands in hers

"Listen, Mrs....." Sandy trailed off realizing that he didn't know Teresa's last name. They had know her for a while and yet they knew nothing about her except for the fact that she was Ryan's friend and because Ryan was family that's all that mattered. But still when Ryan had moved in, although he never shared it with Seth, Kirsten and him and looked through Ryan's folder. They knew things about him that were too scary to talk about in front of children, the scary part is that the one who lived through it is a child.

"Eva, please Mr. Cohen call me Eva,"

"Sandy, that's Kirsten," he said and then took a deep breath he was worried about what he had to say, he didn't want it to come out wrong. "We were outside talking and we heard you and my wife and I, Ryan too would really like to give Teresa a chance to start over"

"Yes," Kirsten added, "please let us give her the money to go,"

"No, we don't accept charity,"

"It's not charity, it's what we want to do. We really like your daughter and we just want to make sure that's she can be safe,"

"Teresa," her mom said turning to her daughter and talking in rapid Spanish. Teresa answered hesitantly in a slower Spanish.

"Eva," Ryan said going over to sit next to the woman who until he had met the Cohen's had been basically his adopted mom. "Let the Cohen's give Teresa the money. Really I'll pay them back but at least there will be a loan so she can get out of here. You and I both know that she'll be much safer in Atlanta,"

"Ryan you don't..." Kirsten started to say but Ryan shook his head at her. Eva would be most likely to take money from him instead of people she had never met. Besides he felt funny taking all that money from the Cohen's, even if they did say that he was family. Eva sighed thought about it for a little while then finally a rejected sigh then nodded. Kirsten smiles "okay I'm glad that's settled. I'm going to go get the checkbook from the car,"

"I'll help," Sandy says and the two of them leave to give Ryan a little more private time with them. After all they knew that these people were the last real ties that Ryan had to chino and with Teresa in Atlanta those ties would be about gone.

"Eva I'm glad that you decided to take that money," Ryan said deadpanned.

"Ryan, I'm going to miss you," Teresa said taking his hand in hers.

"Me too," he added kissing her on the forehead. Eva stayed quiet; she had hung on for so long to the fact that maybe, just maybe Ryan would marry her daughter. She couldn't think of anyone she would like more, but now she had to face facts. The two of them were never going to get together. The three of them sat in silence, their silent good-bye until the Cohen's walked back into the room.

"Here you go," Sandy said ripping the check out of the checkbook and folding it before passing it to Eva. "Ryan we've got to get going, you have Marissa's car right?"

"Uh-huh."

"If you're going to be home late call," Kirsten said kissing him on the forehead. "Come on Sandy, we have to go watch our other son make a fool of himself"

"Aww! Your such a great mother, sweetie," Sandy said and with a final good bye he ushered her out of the room. It was only then that Eva finally looked at the check and gasped.

"What mama?"

"It's for four thousand dollars!" Eva said in disbelief

"What?" Ryan said taking it from her and staring at it. He knew the Cohen's had heard how much money was needed.

"Oh my god," Teresa said once again marveling at how wonderful the Cohen's were. The guilt of taking away Ryan from them was pushing at her again but she shook it off. She was sending him home, and that's what mattered.

"It must be a mistake," Eva said

"No it's not," Ryan said quietly "their good people the Cohen's they wanted to help Teresa get a really good start"

"But four thousand dollars that so much?"

"Mama you haven't seen their house, four thousand it probably how much it cost to decorate their living room" Teresa said truthfully and Eva shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, it's still a lot of money. Take it back Ryan,"

"No, it's a present from the Cohen's and me," Ryan said still not able to include himself as a Cohen.

"But..."

"No just take it," Ryan said and got up from the chair. "I have to go," he said suddenly an over whelming feeling of need to get out of there. "Take the money,"

"Ryan," Teresa said giving him a kiss on the cheek, no words could be said to describe how they were feeling. Ryan nodded giving her a last kiss on the forehead and squeeze of the hand before turning to Eva.

"Thanks so much for everything," he said in a hushed voice as he hugged her. She nodded and kissed him where Teresa had a moment ago. He was halfway out the door before she spoke.

"You got a good one Ryan, don't lose them," she said and Ryan nodded and closed the door. He had just closed the door on the last of his other life. He took the stairs this time as he was in less of a hurry, making sure to walk by the desk. The nurse who had let him through before was still sitting there and waved as he walked by. Ryan grinned at her, he was in a good mood, who wouldn't be if they realized that they were going to get to do what they had wanted to do all along. And for Ryan, that was staying with the Cohen's.

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Marissa's car was still there without a scratch. He beeped it opened and started the long drive home. Because that's where he was going really, to a place that he can call home.

Ryan had planed on heading towards the fashion show, after all it was the anniversary of his introduction to Newport, but he decided that there would be plenty more of them to attend in the future and that there was no reason for him to go right away. Maybe he could meet up with them at Holly's beach house. He knew it was weird but apparently she was throwing a party and even though Marissa and Summer weren't really friends with her anymore, they had to keep up their popularity so they were going, at least according to Seth. Ryan didn't really understand girl's need to popular or have girl friends. Maybe it was good that he wasn't a girl, he wasn't sure he could handle it. He drove down to the beach, parking closer to Newport then Chino so he would know that the car was safe. Plus it made him feel better being closer to his new life then to his old life.

The beach was almost empty except for a group of kids a little younger then him who were over by a small bonfire. Ryan had never been to a bonfire; in fact he had been considering asking Sandy and Kirsten for one for his birthday, he had always thought that that's what the perfect birthday would be. If he could invite all his friends and they could be out late on the beach. He imagined that that would have been his real welcome to Newport party. Except that his birthday had been two weeks ago, and there had been nothing said about it at all. He also knew that Seth had had his birthday in the five weeks that he had been gone also. It was weird to think that they had both turned eighteen and neither had been home. Ryan rocked back in forth in the sand and started out into the ocean. He stayed there for a while until he saw that the other kids were leaving all happy and naïve, as if everything in the world was okay for once.

Ryan wondered if he had ever been like that, or if he'd had to grow up to quickly. Seth was that way and Ryan thought that was great. He would of loved to be that way, but there are some things that you can't change. Even if you live with such great people, like the Cohen's.

Ryan figured he might as well start to get use to it, being a kid that is, again. With that thought he got up dusted himself off and headed to Marissa's car.

**Author's Note: **Okay that took forever to write! I promise that's there's more drama to come. Now that Teresa's out of the picture I feel much better about the story! Okay thanks for the positive reviews everyone keep them coming!!!


	3. Chapter Three

**Author's Note: **Okay thanks for all the reviews everyone! I really appreciate them! Okay this chapter is going to feature more about the cousin, after all that is the title of the story. Okay as per usual I own absolutely nothing, so even if Fox wants to sue me there is nothing for them to get.

Ryan headed towards the place where they were hosting the fashion show; even though he knew that it was probably over or at least almost over. He parked the car in the crowded parking lot, feeling much better about leaving it alone. Climbing out of the car his suspicious were confirmed when he saw lots of Newspies heading out of the door all chattering. Ryan headed against the crowd, stopping every once in a while to say reply to people that said Hi to him.

Finally he entered into the almost empty ballroom where just a couple of people were left. Sitting around a table were Sandy, Kirsten, Jimmy, Hailey, Caleb and Julie, Jessie, Seth, Summer and Marissa were also there. There were no other seats around the table and Ryan stood uncomfortably not knowing what to do. Suddenly Sandy spotted and him and motioned for him to join them, Ryan smiled self-consciously and pulled a chair over to the table. They were in the middle of a conversation about something or other but stopped when Ryan sat down. Ryan looked away as everyone stared at him, waiting for him to say something, anything.

"She's gone." Was all he said finally and everyone nodded. That was all it took just a simple conformation that in some weird way that with Ryan back everything would go back to normal. It was weird that in some way in their twisted very messed up family, the boy from chino was the glue that held them all together. Who would have thought that in the superficial world of Newport it would be the least superficial person that kept them going.

"When does school registration begin?" Summer asked suddenly

"Sum! Why are you thinking about school?" Marissa said wrinkling her nose at her best friend.

"I don't know I was thinking it might be nice to go away for a while before we have to go back to school"

"Well I for one just got back" Seth said indignantly and Ryan nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we should all get away," Kirsten said suddenly "I don't know about you guys but this had been the most stressful summer of my life. It really doesn't feel like summer yet, maybe we should rent a beach house somewhere?" she said turning to Sandy. Sandy shrugged it sounded fine to him, I mean he could surf and he would be with all his family.

"I love that idea," Julie piped up and Kirsten and Sandy exchanged glances. But for once Caleb came to the rescue to his daughter and son in law, without even meaning to.

"Sorry Ju-Ju, but we can't right now I've got a lot of work to do,"

"But Cal!" Julie whined

"Maybe you can spend some time at a spa?" he offered and she grinned. Besides spending time at a posh spa would be so much better then at a beach, if she wanted to go to the beach she could go any time. Why would she travel for a beach when one was in her own backyard? Sandy and Kirsten shared a relieved look, they weren't even sure if they were going on this trip, it was just an idea but time away from Julie, instead of with her would be nice. Ryan yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes. He couldn't believe how tired he was. It was like all of a sudden he could not keep his eyes open. Probably because today had been one of the most draining days of his entire life, after all it's not every day that you lose you oldest friend and what possibly may be your baby in the same day. Sandy looked over at Ryan who's eyes were half closed and took the hint, he leaned over and whispered something to Kirsten who nodded.

"Okay, I'm exhausted. Even old guys need their beauty sleep," Sandy said getting up and offering his hand to Kirsten who accepts it gratefully. Seth whispered something in Summer's ear and then gave her a quick kiss before standing up. Ryan kissed Marissa's cheek and followed Jessie out after the rest of the Cohen's. The ride back to the Cohen's house was a quiet one, and eventually the lull of the car put Ryan to sleep.

The next thing he remembered was Seth shaking him awake and being dazed at where he was. He was somewhere in between the world of being awake and asleep. He walked blindly through the house and almost fell into the pool before finally making it into the pool house. He flopped down on the bed and fell asleep with no effort at all.

Meanwhile back in the main house Jessie had followed in Ryan's example and headed to bed. Seth still wide-awake had sat down with his parents for a really good heart to heart, or a good punishment. At least that's what Seth had expected. He was surprised to find that they didn't bring up either.

"You know what," Kirsten said pouring two glasses of red wine. "I think that whole beach house idea is actually a good idea,"

"Honey," Sandy said coming over and wrapping his arms around her waist "We already live in a beach house. In fact even if we rented a beach house we probably couldn't get this close to the beach!"

"But I just want to get out of here for a while, take a break!" Kirsten said with a sigh. She was tired of Newport, tired of being tired and ready to get her family's life back in order.

"Does it have to be at the beach?" Seth asked taking a pudding from the fridge.

"I don't know I was just thinking that it would be relaxing. I remember one time I went with my mom and Hailey to visit friends of ours in New York and they took us to their beach house in Jersey. It was probably the most relaxed I've ever been in my entire life. Besides if we go there were close to the city so we won't be totally bored!"

"I don't know honey. It's kind of far to travel for just a beach,"

"We could visit the nana," Seth offered the idea of spending time at the beach sounding pretty good to him. After his entire parent's really couldn't ground him if they were so far from home.

"Also we could leave towards the end of summer and make sure that Jessie gets back in time for school," Kirsten pleaded with her husband. This idea was actually starting to sound really good to her.

"Alright, alright," Sandy said holding up his hands in defeat. Maybe it would nice to get away from Newport for a while.

"Well talk to Jessie and Ryan in the morning, "Kirsten said happily "Maybe we can ask Jimmy and Marissa if they want to come,"

"How about Summer mom? Huh can I bring Summer?"

"Sure," Kirsten said sharing a look with Sandy. As long as they kept the two in separate rooms, everything would be fun. After all a repeat of the whole Ryan Teresa pregnancy thing was definitely not necessary. But the idea of the trip was to have fun, and she and Sandy could have fun with Jimmy, Ryan with Marissa, and now Seth with Summer. Kirsten wondered if maybe they should invite Caitlin, Marissa's sister, for some for Jessie to hang out with. She would talk to Jimmy about it, Caitlin was so like her mom, that maybe she wouldn't be that much fun to take with her. After the long stressful beginning to the summer, Kirsten just wanted it to be a fun happy time.

"Okay, thanks mom!" Seth said planting a kiss on her cheek "I'm exhausted I'm going to go to sleep. This has been the busiest day of my entire life!"

"I would imagine so sweetie, sleep well," Kirsten said

"'Night Seth," Sandy called and Seth nodded at him before bounding up the stairs. "It's good to have him back," he said going over and kissing Kirsten's neck. Kirsten turned around and kissed Sandy gently on the mouth before smiling and heading up to bed. Halfway there she turned around and walked back into the kitchen. "What's up honey?"

"I'm going to go check on Ryan," Kirsten said tentatively. It was weird she knew it, but she had to reassure herself that Ryan too was home. Sandy nodded understanding.

"If he's still there, come back and share the good news," he said half joking, these five weeks had been a long stressful period of time for all of them. Both Sandy and Kirsten had waken up lots of times in the middle of the night somewhere between being awake and asleep, convinced that their boys had come home. Only to find both their beds empty and there was no sign that they had been there in a really long time.

Kirsten found Ryan sprawled out on the bed his suit and shoes still on. He was breathing heavily, which she took to mean he was in a deep sleep. She felt bad having to wake him up but she knew that if she didn't that he would be uncomfortable in the morning. She shook him lightly and he woke up for a moment looked at her blearily and then closed his eyes only to open them and shut them once more. Kirsten bit back a laugh; she assumed that he had no idea where he was.

"Ryan, sweetie, wake up,"

"Kirsten?" he asked in confusion not able to place her voice.

"Yes, now you need to go and get changed for bed alright? You can't go to sleep like that!"

"But I don't want to," he whined in a child's voice. Kirsten tried not to laugh again; it always amused her to see Ryan when he was tired or grumpy. He was so different then, then when he was fully awake.

"Come on Ryan,"

"No," he whined in the same voice

"Yes, let's go," Kirsten said pulling off Ryan's shoes and socks, "unless you want me to change you get up," Ryan was up before she had even finished her sentence. There was no way he was going to let her get any closer to him. Mumbling something incoherent he opened the closet and pulled out a pair of pajamas. He fixed a meaningful look at Kirsten, trying to tell her to leave but she just raised an eyebrow. There was no way that he was going to get away with sending her out and then turning around and going straight to bed. Mumbling again Ryan headed to the bedroom. Kirsten grinned at the door as he slammed it shut. He was truthfully starting to become so much more a teenager instead of an adult. She had only wished he had come to them when he was younger.

"Happy?" Ryan grumbled coming out dressed in a wife beater and blue plaid pajama pants. Kirsten just smiled at him and held back the covers as he got into the bed. She tucked him in out of habit with Seth and was about to kiss his cheek when she thought better of it. This wasn't Seth, this was Ryan, and you couldn't do the same things with both of them. She was almost out the door when she heard Ryan's breathing become heavier and she knew he was asleep. Thinking about it again, she turned around and leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was her son, and she could kiss him if she felt like it. Feeling satisfied she turned and headed out the door and back into the main house.

Crawling in bed next to a sleeping Sandy, Kirsten stayed awake a long time. She had accepted Ryan as part of the family because she didn't really have a choice. But now she was realizing that she didn't really think of him anymore as just someone who happened to live in their house but really as her own son practically. It was wrong to have your son sleeping in the pool house. Kirsten figured she'd have to do something about that tomorrow. With that thought she drifted off to sleep.

The Cohen's plus Ryan congregated in the kitchen early the next morning, out of habit. Ryan and Seth had taken their usual places on the stools at the island counter; Sandy and Kirsten were leaning against the kitchen counter with Jessie sitting on top next to the sink. They were all drinking cups of coffee, although Jessie's has so much milk in it, it could barley be considered coffee. Kirsten had insisted that, claiming that coffee stunted growth.

"I've been drinking coffee since I was her age," Seth had said indignity. But no one had answered him, instead all he had gotten where three eye rolls and one tongue being stuck out at him. It was good to be back

**Author's Note**: Okay this was short but I wanted to post it, next one will be longer I promise. Hope you liked it! Kind of fluff but it will get better this is only the beginning. Read and Review!


End file.
